I lost two pairs of my daughter's Babiators in the summer of 2023. One at a soft play centre — taken off, put down somewhere, never seen again. One at the beach — knocked off during a wave incident, swept away before I could retrieve them. Two pairs of children's sunglasses, both gone within six weeks of each other, both replaced at a cost that made me wince.
I'm a 35-year-old speech and language therapist based in Brighton. My daughter Isla is four. She wears her Babiators constantly in summer — she's very attached to them and genuinely upset when she doesn't have them. The losing problem was not just a financial one. It was a small but recurring source of distress for both of us.
The Babiators Black Fabric Strap was the solution I should have bought with the first pair.
The Lost Sunglasses Problem
Children's sunglasses fall off. They get taken off and put down. They get knocked off during active play. They get left behind when you're packing up to leave somewhere. The problem is structural — sunglasses without a strap rely entirely on staying on the child's face, and children's faces are not reliably still enough for that to work consistently.
A strap changes the equation entirely. When the sunglasses come off the face, they hang around the neck rather than falling to the ground or being put down somewhere. They're attached to the child. They go where the child goes. They don't get left behind.
Why the Babiators Strap Specifically
The Babiators Black Fabric Strap was the obvious choice because it's made by Babiators specifically for their sunglasses. The flexible rubber pipes slide snugly onto the temples of Babiators frames — they're designed to fit, which means they fit properly rather than being a generic strap that sort of works. Compatible with all Babiators sunglasses and screen savers, which means it works with whatever pair Isla is wearing now and whatever pair she gets next.
The soft fabric design is comfortable for all-day wear — Isla doesn't notice it's there, which is the right outcome. A strap that's uncomfortable is a strap that gets taken off, which defeats the purpose. The fabric is soft against the back of the neck and doesn't irritate during active play.
The adjustable design means it fits correctly as Isla grows — I don't have to buy a new strap every time she gets bigger. The durable construction is built for the kind of use a four-year-old puts things through, which is considerably more demanding than the kind of use most products are designed for.
Fitting It
The strap took about thirty seconds to fit. The rubber pipes slide onto the temples of Isla's Babiators cleanly — snug enough to stay in place, easy enough to remove when needed. I adjusted the length so the strap sits comfortably at the back of her neck when the sunglasses are on and hangs at a sensible length when they're off. Done.
Isla put the sunglasses on, ran around the garden for ten minutes, took them off, and they hung around her neck. Exactly as intended. She didn't mention the strap. She didn't try to remove it. She just wore her sunglasses with a strap, which is how sunglasses should work for a four-year-old.
A Full Summer Without Losing a Pair
We've had the strap since the beginning of last summer. Isla has worn her Babiators to the beach, to soft play, to the park, to a water park, to two holidays, and to approximately forty other outings where sunglasses would previously have been at risk. We have not lost a pair. Not once. The sunglasses have come off her face many times — during swimming, during eating, during the inevitable moments when a four-year-old decides she doesn't want to wear them — and every time they've hung around her neck rather than disappearing.
The strap has been through salt water, fresh water, sand, sunscreen, and the general chaos of a four-year-old's summer. It's intact, it's still adjustable, and it still fits the temples of her Babiators as securely as it did on the first day.
What It Changed
I don't think about Isla's sunglasses anymore. That's the change. Before the strap, there was a background awareness at every outing — where are the sunglasses, has she put them down somewhere, are we going to leave without them. That awareness is gone. The sunglasses are attached to her. They're where she is. I don't have to track them.
It's a small thing. But the accumulation of small things you don't have to think about is what makes a day with a four-year-old manageable rather than exhausting. The strap is one of those small things.
My Verdict
If you have Babiators and you haven't got the strap, get the strap. The Babiators Black Fabric Strap is the accessory that makes the sunglasses actually work for an active child — soft fabric that's comfortable all day, rubber pipes that fit Babiators temples securely, adjustable for growth, and durable enough for a full summer of beach, park, and water play. I lost two pairs of Babiators before I bought it. I haven't lost one since.
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Hannah Pearce is a speech and language therapist and mother of one based in Brighton. She lost two pairs of Babiators in six weeks, bought the strap, and has not lost a pair since. She considers this one of the better parenting decisions she's made.
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